Generational Theory Presenters: Joy Gayles & John Lee

Defining Moments  Think about major global/national/local events that have happened over your lifetime that have been very significant and or radical (both good events and not so good events)  What happened and how did it affect you, your family, your community, the state, the country and the world?  In small groups of 5-6 share your events and come up with a master group of events to share

Generational Theory  cohort-group born within year period peer personality  Boundaries of period are fixed by peer personality  Peer Personality is shaped by social moments, or historic events that radically alter their social environment 

Life Cycle Framework  Youth  Youth =  Dependence, growing, learning, protection/nurturing, avoiding harm, acquiring values  Rising Adulthood  Rising Adulthood =  Working, starting families, serving institutions, testing values  Midlife  Midlife =  Leadership, parenting, teaching, directing institutions, using values  Elderhood  Elderhood =  Supervising, mentoring, passing on values

Generational Diagonal  Idea that generations move through time influencing and being influenced by  Other generations  Social moments

Who are the Millennials?  Born in or after 1982  The oldest entered college Fall of 2000  Life expectancy of 75 years  3 most popular names MalesFemales MichaelJennifer JasonJessica ChristopherAshley

Moving through the Diagonal 1. Break between rising and young adult generation due to style differences 2. Rising generation tries to correct for perceived excesses of the current midlife generation – parents and leaders 3. Fills social role vacated by elder generation

Generations  Dominant Generation – called on to respond to crises (social moments) as they move into rising adulthood and elderhood  Recessive Generation – absence of critical social moments

Generations Birth Cohorts years Lost Generation Silent Generation Baby Boomer Generation X Millennial GI’s (WWII) Generation Z

Baby Boomers  More likely to live in two-income household.  Have children in college  Have the basic feeling of security  More likely than others to focus on education  Have the highest level of education  88.8% of this generation completed high school

Generation X  Grew up during the post Watergate era and the energy crisis.  They were in many cases children of divorce and nontraditional family units  Many were latchkey kids who were raised on electronic media (television, Atari 2600s)

Challenges facing Generation Z  Competition in job market  Recovery from the “Great Recession” (jobs in healthcare, information technology, leisure and hospitality)  Jobs will require college/advanced degrees  Cost of higher education is skyrocketing  High student loan debt/less buying power entering the workforce  Obesity (sedentary lifestyle of digital age)

Challenges facing NC & Generation Z  Fewer middle class jobs (split between high and low paying jobs)  North Carolina is on track to be the 7 th largest state in the country  Population growth concentrated in the largest cities  Communities across the state will be more diverse

Who is Generation Z???  Born between 1990 and 2002 (last half of Millennial Generation)  By 2020 they will be between 18 and 30 years of age  1.5 million in NC  Ethnically diverse  Technology savvy  Globally aware  Connectivity!!!

Characteristics of Generation Z  This generation has always had the internet – the internet generation; digital natives  Hyper-Connectivity (community is broadly defined)